Transfer device



Sept. 7 1926.

W. P. LAMAR TRANSFER DEVICE File 4, 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 1,1926; 1598,886

W. P. LAMAR V TRANSFER DEVICE Filed Dec. 4, 19:25v 4'Shets-Shnt 2 Sept. 7 1926. 1,5985% W. P. LAMAR TRANSFER DEVICE Fi'led Dec. 4, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 a if 45 Q L B E Sept. 7 ,'1926.

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WILLIAM P. LAMAR, OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA.

TRANSFER DEVICE.

Application filed December 4, 1923. Serial No. 678,520.

This invention relates to a transportation system and more particularly to a system for transferri cars from moving trains to a group of s dings and vice-versa, or for trans fer-ring trailers from moving motor trucks to the same group of sidings, and vicevcrsa. lllrans provided whereby the cars may be automatically converted into trailers and vice-versa, so that they may be unloaded from a train and taken away by motor trucks or the reverse. In my previous Patents No. 1,313,091, August 12, 1919, No. 1,366,908, January 18, 1921, and No. 1,383,220, June 28, 1921, I have disclosed mechanis .i for unloading cars from a train to a siding and for loading them from a siding to a train while the train is in motion. in my pplication No. 596,474, filed October 23, 1922, now Patent No. 1,496,550, issued June 3, 1924, I have disclosed improved apparatus for the same purpose and this invention may be considered as an extension thereof, the mechanism for unloading and loading cars from moving trains being the same and reference may be had thereto for full disclosure of this feature.

This invention contemplates the use of a plurality of parallel sidings instead of a single one, as previously used, allowing large trains to be loaded. and unloaded at one point instead of only one or two cars, as in the previous devices. The apparatus consists in general of a number of reception cars made up into a train which runs on a standard railway track, a number of transfer cars which are loaded on to and discharge from thereception cars while the train is in mo tion by the mechanism disclosed in my copending application 596,474, fi ed October 523, 1922, now Patent No. 1,496,550, issued June 3, 1924. It also includes one or more stations, each provided with three loading and unloading platforms, these platforms being connected by a plurality of sidings joining the single tracks thereon by appropriate switch mechanism. Each loading and unloading platform is similar to the ones described in my patent last above referred to. On one side of these platforms and sidings s a standard railroad track upon which the train to be loaded or unloaded is adapted to run. On the other side of the platforms is provided a grooved track in which a series of motor trucks may be run. This grooved track is connected with the sidings by means of appropriate autoinatic switches so that trailers may be re leased from the trucks or switched on behind them. As in the said patent suitable mechanism is provided for accelerating the transfer car's, being actuated by the railroad train when it'is to be loaded and by the trucks when they are about to pick up trailers.

For a general understanding of my in vention, reference should be had to the accon'ipanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a plan View of an unloading and loading platform, and the accompanying sidings as provided at one station;

F is an elevation showing the contour of a siding track;

Fig. 3 is a plan view partly broken away showing the switching mechanism, the sidi 's, and the means for accelerating the transfer cars from either a train or motor truck;

Fig. 4 is a plan view showing in detail the mechanism for operating an automatic switch, a portion of a transfer car being shown in section;

Fig. 5 is an elevation of a gear shift mechanism;

Fig.

6 is a plan thereof; F in.

7 is a plan view of a portion of the unloading platform and a portion of the loading platform showing accelerating means and wheel releasing cams;

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view showing the profile of certain of the tracks;

Fig. 9 is an elevation partly in section of a stop device as used on the sidings;

Fig. 10 illustrates in detail certain of the chains used;

Fig. 11 is an end elevation of a transfer car illustrating the means for dropping the vehicle wheels;

Fig. 12 is a side elevation of one end of the transfer car;

Fig. 13 is a side elevation of a complete transfer car;

Fig. 14 is a detail plan view; and

Fig. 15 an elevation of a coupling mechanism as used on the motor trucks.

Figure 1 shows in general the plan of a single station adapted for loading and unloading both trains and motor trucks. 1 represents the unloading platform and 2 the loading platform, as fully described in my copending application Serial No. 596,474, now Patent No. 1,496,550, issued June 3, 1924. These platforms are connected by a plurality of side tracks 3, here shown as five in number. At the ends these tracks converge and by appropriate switch mechanism join a single section of track 1-4:. The switch mechanisms 55 are adapted to be manually oper ated by an operator who chooses upon which siding 3, a car is to be located, depending upon its final destination. The track (3 carries the railroad train containing the reception cars each of which may be arranged to carry several small cars of about ten feet in length hereinafter known .as transfer cars which are equipped with casters to adapt them for motion in any direction, especially while being loaded or unloaded from the reception cars. The mechanism for this loading and unloading has been fully described in my previous application Serial No. 596,474 new Patent No. 1,496,550, issued June 3, 1924, and will not be further discussed here. On the side of the loading platform opposite that of track (Sis a grooved track 7, adapted to guide motor trucks by the platforms and sidings. At either end of the sidings this track 7 is connected to the track 4 by a short section of track 8, and suitable switches, to be hereinafter described.

Each side track 3 has aprofile, as shown in Figure 2. Immediately after leaving a switch 5 there is a sharp rise 9 adapted to retard a transfer car that has just been unloaded from a moving train or truck. Beyond the peak of this rise is a gentle decline 10 slightly greater than the angle of repose v of the transfer car in order that it may be run down this track at very slow speed, being stopped and held by the projection 11 which will be later described. Beyond the projection 11 the decline is considerably steeper, as shown at 12, to aid in accelerating the cars released from 11, leveling out again before reaching the second set of switches 5.

The cars adapted to run on these side tracks are known as transfer cars and are shown in Figure 13, wherein 14 represents the floor of a flat car supported upon four casters 15 comprising a large sphere 16 our naled in the cup 17 and running on ball bearings. These casters are rigidly mounted beneath the floor of the car and are arranged to support the transfer car while it is traveling in a reception car, and while it is being unloaded from or loaded on to a moving train, running in a shallow grooved track, as shown at 18 in Figure 11, and al lowing movement of the car in any direction. In order that the transfer cars may be used as truck trailers, it is desirable to supply them with vehicle wheels of any of the well known type, since the casters 15 are not suit able for use on ordinary roads. Each trans fer car is equipped therefor with two pairs of wheels 19 mounted for rotation upon axles 20. Each a-Xle 20 is supported by two semi-elliptical springs 21, having their forward ends journaled for rotation about spring bolts 22 rigidly clamped in inverted U-shaped members 23 bolted to the bottom of the car frame. At the rear end each spring 21 is provided with a transverse bar 2-1 rigidly secured thereto and adapted for sliding movement in slots 25 provided in the spaced plates 26 arranged one on either side of the spring 21 and rigidly supported from the car frame. When the bar 24 is at the top of the slots 25, as shown in Figure 12, the wheels 19 are raised from the ground and the car rests upon the casters 17, but when the 24 is lowered to the bottom of the slots 25, the wheels come below the level of the casters and the car rests upon them. In order to change from wheels to casters and vice-versa, without stopping the transer car, I have devised the following automatic mechanism for the purpose. Iivoted at the point 27 upon each plate 26 is a lever 28 having an olf-set head 29 adapted as shown in Figure 12 to maintain the transverse bar 2% on the end of the spring against the upper end of the slot 25 thus holding the wheels above the level of the casters. The stop pin 28 prevents counter-clockwise rotation of lever 28 under the weight of the car. The two levers 28 arranged at the end of each spring are joined together into a single depending arm 30 which reaches almost to the level of the track and is arranged for cooperation with a cam block 81 arranged alongside the track at any point where it is desired to drop the wheels. 19. It can be seen that when the arm 30 strikes the cam 31 the levers 28, being fulcrumed at 27, will remove the offset heads 29 from beneath the ends of the transverse bars 24- and allow the wheels 19 to drop of their own weight. The front axle of the transfer car may be arranged to pivot, by any of the well known means, to allow the turning of corners when used as a trailer.

The wheels 19 are adapted to run in a channeled track 32 which is arranged outside of the track 18 in which the casters run. It will be seen by reference to Figure 8 that when the track 18 is above the level of the track 32, as at the point A, the wheels 19 are free to drop until they are below the level of the casters. When the casters reach the point B the transfer car becomes supported by the wheels running on the inclined track 82 and the casters are automatically raised from the tracks 18 which may be then discontinued, as shown at C. In order that the wheels 19 may support the load of the transfer car they must be securely fastened in their lowered position and provision is made on each of the levers 28 for this purpose. A' right angled offset 33 is arranged on-each lever 28 below the pivot point 27 and at its end is bent into a semi-circle, as shown best in Figure 12. The tip of the offset at the end of the semi-circle is chamfered at the upper end so that the weight of the wheels on the transverse bar 21- will s ring this latch 33 to the left allowing the bar 2% to drop clear to the bottom of the slots 25, the levers 28 thereafter returning to a vertical position under the action of the airing 34 so that the semicircular hook partially surrounds the bar 24 and securely latches it into position.

When it becomes desirable to allow the transfer car to again run upon its casters, a second cam block 31' is arranged alongside the track and is of considerable lengthas shown in Figure 7 in order to hold the arm 30 in a retracted position while the wheels 19 are being lifted. Referring again to Figure 8, it will be seen that in position D the track 18 for the casters is below the track 32 on which the wheels run; at position E the tracks are at the same level, the car still being supported by the wheels. At position F the track 18 is considerably higher than the track 32 so that the car is supported by the casters 17. At this point the lever 30 engages the cam 31', releases the semi-circular hooks 33 from the transverse bars 2 1- on the ends of the springs, and the wheels 19 t ien roll on the tracks 82 with only their own weight. if the tracks 32 are now inclined upwardly as at G it will be readily perceived that the wheels will be lifted, the bar 24 automatically latching be hind the offset heads 29 of the levers 28 when the tracks 32 may be discontinued and the car allowed to run forward on its casters.

Referring to Figure 1, a point H will be noticed just beyond the unloading platform 1, at which the vehicle wheels on the trans fer cars which have been unloaded from a train are released so that the cars may run through the switches 5 and over the side tracks 3 on their vehicle wheels, thus eliminating any wear on the casters except during the actual unloading and loading operations. At the point K the wheels are adapted to be again raised and the car supported by its casters, since the mechanism of the loading platform 2, requires the use of casters.

The operation of the device considering only the railroad side of it, may be briefly outlined as follows: A train approaching on the track-(3 from the left reaches the unloading platform 1, when a transfer car is discharged from the first reception car upon the platform, as clearly described in my now Patent No. 1,496,550, issued June 3, 1924. This car has a forward component of speed equal to that of the train, which is preferably about en miles per hour and is led on to the track 4i: by the funnel-shaped channels. A. "iving at the point H the vehicle wheels are automatically dropped and the car continues its course thereon. Arriving at the switches 5 it may be shunted on to any one of the side tracks 3 at the will of the operator and climbing the incline 9 is retarded almost to the point of stoppage. Arriving on the downward slope 10 it continues its motion until stopped by the mechanism 11. Any number of cars may be thus unloaded from one train to the capacity of the side tracks 3, precaution being taken, however, to unload from only every third trans r car on the train, in order that the cars being rett dad on the incline 9 will not be bumped by the succeeding cars overtalc ing them. Mechanism is clearly disclosed in my previous application Serial No. 596,474, new Patent No. 1,496,550, issued June 3, 192 i, for automatically selecting reception cars which shall discharge their transfer cars at a desired station. It may be desirable to have each large reception car carry several transfer cars and mechanism is therefore arranged to cause the unloading of every third transfer car. When it is desired to load any number of transfer cars upon a passing train of empty reception cars the operator decides from which siding 3 they shall be taken and the cars on this track are then accelerated by mechanism to be later described, pass through the switches 5 and at the point K become supported by the casters as described above and from the platform 2 are loaded into the reception cars as described in my previous application.

The mechanism for accelerating a group of transfer cars upon any one of the side tracks 3 is clearly shown in Figure 3. Each side track is provided between the rails, below the level thereof, with an endless chain 35 of the type shown in Figure 10. At one end this chain runs about an idle sprocket S6 and at the opposite end about a sprocket 37 rigidly mounted upon a transverse shaft 38. These shafts, being five in number, are suitably supported throughout their length and pass beneath the tracks and are journaicd in a gear box 09, as shown in Figures 5 and 6. It will be noted that. four of the shafts 38 are in end elevation arranged in a rectangle with the fifth one at the center. Coaxial with the center shaft 38 is a shaft it) which may be connected to the center shaft 38 by a clutch il. Slidably mounted upon the shaft d0 but splined thereto is a spur gear t2 meshing with a gear a?) supported upon a shaft 414 joui. aled in links ll") rotatably mounted about the shaft 40 and slidable with 42. Coaxial with the gear 43 and adapted to be driven thereby is a gear 46. The lower shafts 38 are provided with gears ll", 47, with either one ofwhich the ,slear 48 may he made to mesh by rocking the links by means of the handle 48 pro vided with the latches 4:9 for looking it in any position. The gear 46 is adapted to ill] lit

mesh with either gear 50 or 50 mounted on the upper of the shafts 48. In order that these gears may be engaged by the gear 46, it is necessary that the gears 43 and 46 he slid with the links along the shaft 40 and then rocked into engagement with either or 50 by movement of the handle 48. Since these latter mentioned gears are the larger, this rocking movement will not cause engagement of gear 43 with either 47 or 47. Thus it will be seen that any one of the shafts 38 may be driven from the shaft 40 by suitable manipulation of the handle 48 which can then be latched in position. The shaft 40 is adapted to be driven by the'following mechanism. A gear 51 passes up between the tracks and is arranged to be engaged by a short rack on the bottom of a selected reception car of the railroad train, gear 51 in turn driving a gear 52 meshing with a crown gear 53 rigidly fastened to a rotatably supported drum 54. The periphery of this drum is provided with a series of ribs 54 arranged at progressively decreasing pitches thereabout. Mounted upon the shaft 40 is a spider 55 having anti-friction rollers 56 arranged on the ends of its spokes. These rollers are adapted to be engaged by the ribs, thus rotating the shaft 40 at progressively increasing speeds throughout a full revolution of the drum 54. The rack adapted to engage the gear 51 is ofsuch a length that the drum is driven but one revolution and hence is always in position to start driving the shaft 40 at a minimum ofspeed.

The chains 85 are composed of pairs of flat links 57 connected together by cross pins 58 which extend considerably beyond the faces of the links. Upon every fourth pin 58 is ournaled a forked lever pivoted at the point of the fork. The long arm 59 of this lever is adapted to stand vertically above the chain and project up thru a slot between the tracks while the short arm 60 rests upon the cross pin of the succeeding link, preventing the long arm from being moved back ward but allowing it to move forward journalin about the pin 58.

The axles 20 of a transfer car are in the path of these vertical projections .59 from the chain so that any cars upon a side track 3 will be moved forward by the projections 59 engaging their axles, and progressively increased in speed up to about five miles per hour. Upon leaving the chains 35 the axles will be engaged by a second set of chains 61 similar to the first set and driven through a selective gear mechanism like that shown at 39 but at a constant speed of five miles per hour. In order to efiect this result the drive shaft 40 of this second gear shift mechanism is driven through a train of gears by a gear 62 adapted to be engaged by racks upon the bottoms of cars on a passing train. Geared to each chain 61 and adapted to be driven thereby are the chains 63 which propel the cars through the curved sections in the side tracks and give them sufficient momentum to pass through the switches 5. In order to further accelerate the transfer cars to a speed of fifteen miles per hour, at which speed they are loaded, each transfer car is provided along the-bottom with a rack 64 running longitudinally thereof and adapted to be engaged by the gears 65 projecting up between the tracks in the section 4 and driven through an accelerating mechanism similar to that driving the shafts 28, from a gear 66 actuated by the same racks on the bottoms of the passing cars as actuate the gear 62.

in order that the transfer cars may be switched on behind motor trucks to act as trailers, they must be accelerated to the same speed as the motor truck to which they are to couple and this accomplished by providing he chains 67 and 68 alongside of the grooved track 7 adapted for the motor trucks and having them driven by an extension 69 upon the side of each motor truck, as shown in Figure 14. These chains are quite similar to those shown in Figure 10, but arranged for operation in the opposite direction. so that the member 69 may act on the vertical extension 59 of the chain and cause the arm 60 to rest'upon one of the cross pins 58. The chains 67 and 68 are however provided with fewer members 59 there being but one for each truck in order that a succession of trucks may be automatically spaced so as to make room for a trailer or transfer car to be coupled behind each one. The pivoted construction of the member 59 of the chain allows the chain to run by a motor truck in case it is moving faster than the truck in a similar manner to that in which the moving transfer cars can pass over a slower moving chain 35 or 61. The chain 67 passes over any idle sprocket 70and over a sprocket 71 rigidly fixed on a shaft 71 running across beneath the side tracks and having a driving connection with the shaft upon which is mounted the gear 51 as shown in Figure 3, thus serving to drive any one of the chains 35 which may be selected by movement of the gear shaft lever 40 and accelerate the transfer cars upon a selected track in a manner exactly similar to that performed by a'passing train. The chain 68 is similarly connected to the shaft upon which is mounted the gear 62, for driving the chains 61. A third chain (57 mounted beside the track 7 drives, in a similar manner, the shaft upon which is mounted the gear 66, thus criving the accelerating gears 65 forbringing the transfer cars up tothe final speed of fifteen miles per hour.

When the transfer cars have been accelerated to this speed and it is desired that they be switched on behind motor trucks the switch .72, Figure 1, is thrown to the left nseaese hand position and the cars pass through the section of track 8 and. run through, the spring switch '73 on to the track 7 each one behind a truck which have been properly spaced by the chains where they overtake the motor truck which has-slowed down to a speed of about fourteen miles per hour for this purpose and automatically couple behind it. To effect this coupling the transfer car or trailer is equipped on the front end with a coupling member 7-1: of generally spearhead shape andaeapted to be received between a pair of spring pressed latches arranged 011 a short tongue 76 at the rear of each' motor truck. This tongue is pivoted at the point 77 to allow for turning movement and is normally held longitudinally of the truck by means of coil springs 78. The latch members 75 are pivoted at 79 and a coil spring 80 is arranged between their forward ends in order to press their outer ends together. The inner ends of the latch members 75 are connected together by a pair of toggle links 81 pivotally secured at their meeting )oint to a rod 82 reaching fOlVZild to the drivers seat (not shown). Tension applied to this roc 82 serves to draw the forward ones of the latches 75 together thus openin the rear ends and releasing the spear head T l from between them when it is desirer. to uncouple the trailer.

Motor trucks approaching the unloading platform are guided into the track 7 and their trailers may be uncoupled and allowed to run by their own momentum upon the side tracks 3 in the following manner: it switch 83 is provided opening oil from the track 7 and leading to the track i and through this switch the trailer is adapted to be shunted. This necessitates the opening of the switch 83 after the mot-or truck has passed and before the front wheels of the trailer have reached it. This is effected by mechanism on the trailer.

By reference to Figure 4, the mechanism of such a switch will be readily understood. Leading off from the straight channels 85 of the track are the curved channels 86 of the track 8. At the junction point of the curved and straight channels the inner side members ofthe rails are cut away and in order to guide passing wheels on to either track desired, triangular shaped blocks 87 of a thickness equal to the height of a side wall of the channel are mounted for transverse reciprocation at the points where the side walls are cut away. The hypotenuse of each triangle forms one wall of the curved track when these triangular blocks are moved with their long sides adjacent the flanges of the straight track and these long sides provide a side wall for the straight track when the triangular members 87 are.

moved with their hypotenuses against the remaining walls of the curved track. A cross bar 88 serves to connect the triangular blocks 87 together and passes upward to connect with them through slots in the bot tom of each channel member. Near the middle the member 88 is provided with a block 89 projecting upward therefrom and adapted to be engaged by a member 90 projecting downward from the front of the trailer and having a sloping face to move the block 89 to one side. The rear end of the transfer car is provided with a similar depending member 91 having a sloping face adapted to return the switch to its normal straight through position.

In operation a motor truclrdrives into the track at a speed of approximately 15 miles per hour and just before reaching the switch 83 the latches 75 are spread apart automatically by mechanism to be described and release the trailer from the truck. The trailer then moves forward under its own momentum, the truck speeding up slightly to get out of the way, the member 90 engages the block 89 and throws the switch 83 to allow the trailer to travel into the track 8 from whence it is automatically switched on to the track 4 and then into any one of the five side tracks desired by manual operation of a switch These switches 5 may operate in a manner similar to switch 88 except that a hand lever is arranged to shift the member 88. 4 The means for automatically uncoupling the trailer from its motor truck comprises mechanism carried by the truck and operated by an obstruction between the rails of the track. Pivoted at 96 to theforward end of the tongue 76 is a lever 97 with a depending arm 98 reaching down almost to the level of the road bed and adapted to be moved rearwardly when it comes in contact ith an obstruction 99 placed between the tracks. The upper arm 100 of the lever is pivoted to the rod 82 so that rearward motion of the arm 98 causes forward movement of the arm 100 and thus of the rod 82 acting to uncouple the trailen The member 11, shown in Figures 2 and 9, is adapted to stop' the transfer car delivered on a side track at the proper point on the side track, so that it may be engaged by the accelerating chain. It consists merely in a section of track pivoted at the point 92 and counter-weighted as at 93 to assure it always returning to' the position shown in Figure 9. In order that the weight of a car may not push it down until desired it is supported by a prop 941 hinged at 94 and spring pressed into the position shown by the coil spring 95. Just before a car or cars are to be accelerated on any side track by means of the chains 35 the prop 94 is pushed toward the left and maintained there by a lever pivoted outside the track and actuated a projection on the passing railroad car or motor truck (not shown). The weight of the transfer cars on the slope 10 then causes them to move forward pressing the section 11 of the track down and running over it.

In the operation of this system it is found desirable to have three sets of loading and unloading platforms and their associated side tracks at each station, since each unloading platform can handle but one-third of the cars on a train as previously explained. Each side track 3 is adapted to hold about thirty-two transfer cars and thus one hundred and sixty cars can be accommodated between a loading and unloading platform and three units can thus load or unload a train of 480 cars. It is of course highly desirable that no rolling stock remain inoperative at any time on account of its high initial expense and my system provides for the constant motion of all trains and trucks, it merely being necessary to stop the transfer cars at their final destination for loading and unloading; already loaded cars being picked up by the trucks and'delivered to the railroad stations where they are loaded'on to trains without causing them to stop and delivered to their final destination where they are similarly unloaded and hauled by the motor trucks to their points of consumption. 7

It will thus be seen that I have devised a I highly desirable type of transporting system in which all possible expensive units are maintained in constant motion, except of course, in case of necessary repairsthus re ducing expense to a minimum and I do not wish to be limited to the exact modification shown since it will be understood that vari ous changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the appended claims.

' WVhat I claim is 1. In a transportation systemof the class described, transfer cars, an unloading platform, a loading platform, plurality of tracks connecting said platforms, each track capable of holding a plurality of cars and means for accelerating the cars on a selected track. V,

2. In a transportation system of he class described, in combination, a car adapted to be transferred from the floor of a vehicle moving along a traclrto a second track,

means for retarding said car, a'third track, a vehicle provided with an automatic c0up- ,ler thereon, means operated thereby for accelerating said car, a switch connecting said second and third tracks, the car passing thru the switch and coupling behind said vehicle on the third track. I

3. In a transportationsystem of the classdescribed, a transfer car having Wheels, said car being adapted to be e ected from a moving train, and means to accelerate said transfer car and position it to be coupled behind a moving motor vehicle.

4:. In a transportation system of the class described, 'a transfer car having casters, means for ejecting said transfer car from a moving vehicle to run on its casters, wheels on said transfer car and means automatically causing said car to run on said wheels.

' 5. In a'transportation systemof the class described, a transfer car having wheels, a track for said wheels, means for accelerating said car while on said track, 'a coupling device on said car, a second track beside said first track, a motor vehicle moving thereon, switch means connecting said tracks and mechanism whereby said car passes thru said switchand couples'behind said moving vehicle.

6. In a transportation system of the class described, a transfer car, means whereby said transfer car may be towed by a motor vehicle, means automatically switching said car onto a track, means for retarding said car, a train containing a reception car, moving parallel to said track,and means actuated by said trainefor loading the transfer car into the reception car while the train is in motion.

7. In a transportation system of the'class described, an unloading platform, a loading platform, a plurality of tracks therebetwecn, switching means whereby any one of the tracks may connect the platforms, means on each of said tracks for accelerating, cars thereon, driving mechanism for said accelerating means, and means for connecting said driving mechanism to any desired accelerating means.

8. In a transportation system of the class described, a loading platform, an unloading platform, a plurality of tracks therebetween,

switching means whereby any one of the tracks may connect the platforms, means of each of said tracks for accelerating cars thereon, two driving mechanisms for said accelerating means, and selective means for driving any desired accelerating means from either driving mechanism.

9. In a transportation system of the class described, a pluralityof parallel tracks, an endless chain arranged longitudinally of each track, a shaft operatively connected with each chain, a shaft adapted to be driven by a moving vehicle, a drum rotated thereby, ribs on the face of the drum arranged at progressively decreasing pitches, and spokes rotated by the ribs and driving a stub shaft and mechanism for selectively connecting said stub shaft with any desired chain shaft to operate it. V I

10. In a transportation system of the class described, a storage track, means for unloading a car thereon, means for loading a car therefrom, including a chain for accelerating said car, a chain for maintaining said car at the accelerated speed, and gears for further accelerating said car to the speed of a vehicle on a parallel track.

11. In a transportation system of the class described, means whereby a moving motor truck may accelerate a stationary trailer up to its speed, including an endless chain having vertical projections adapted to be engaged by an extension on the truck, a shaft driven by the chain, a drum rotated by said shaftribs on the face of said drum at progressively decreasing pitches, and spokes rotated by the ribs and driving an endless chain, projections on said chain and a bar on said trailer adapted to be engaged by saic projections. V

12. In a transportation system of the class described, a transfer car, casters supporting said car, a pair of wheels mounted on said ear above the plane of the casters, a track for said casters and means beside the track for releasing the wheels whereby they drop below the plane of the casters, and means automatically fastening said wheels in the lowered position.

In a transportation system of the class described, a transfer car, casters rigidly mounted on said car to support it at times, wheels mounted on said car, said wheels adapted to assume a position above the plane of the casters when the car is supported by the casters and means without the car to automatically lower the wheels below the plane of the casters.

l l. In a transportation system of the class described, a transfer car, a semi-elliptical spring, an axle mounted thereon, astationary spring bolt, an eye onone end of said spring pivoted on said spring bolt, a transverse rod rigidly fastened to the other end of said spring, a pair of spaced plates depending from the frame of the car, slots in said plates in which the transverse rod is adapted to move and a latch member for holding said rod against either end of said slots.

15. In a transportation system of the class described, in combination, a main track of channel section, a side track of channel section, a transfer car having wheels adapted to run in said channels, a switch joining said main and side tracks and switch points operable by said car having a transverse linear movement.

16. In a transportation system of the class described, in combination, a main track, a side track, said tracks having rails of channel section, a switch joining said sections, switch points adapted for sliding movement in said channels, a transfer car, and means on said car to move said points to allow the car to move from the main to the side track.

17. In a transportation system of the class described, in combination, a main track, aside track, said tracks having rails of channel section, a switch joining said sections, switch points adapted for sliding movement in said channels, a transfer car, means on said car to move said points to allow the car to move from the main to the side track, and means on said car to reset said switch points after said car has passed thru said switch.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

WVILLIAM P. LAMAR. 

